Accuracy of S-Pen

Accuracy of S-Pen

Hi,

I recently picked a Note 10.1 up because I find it very useful for sketching art (mainly game-art for mobile game development).
However, I have one major gripe with the tablet after using it for a week:

When sketching, the traced line sometimes "spikes". If I draw a line slowly and as accurate as I can, the air-dot on-screen can suddenly jump to a position 3-4 millimeters away from where the nib is, and then jump back again and continue on the right path.
This means that lines, arcs and so on can become jagged when they should be smooth.

I have reproduced the same behavios by drawing a second or third line next to the one that has a spike, and sure enough, the other lines behave exactly the same when I get close to where I had trouble on the first line.

It doesn't matter if I have my palm on the screen or not, and I don't have a cover for the tablet.
I have the same problem in Sketchbook Pro and Note and PS Touch.

The only way I've found to make the pen a little more reliable is to keep it almost perpendicular to the screen, but then I cover what I draw with my fingers, and it's really not comfortable or natural. AND, sometimes I will get a spike despite this, and then I can fix it by instead keeping the pen slanted in the troublesome spot...

Are you having these sort of problems with your pens, and/or do you know what could cause it or how to remedy it?

I think it's a bit sad if the accuracy isn't better than this. Samsung market this as a tool for producing content and have commercials with artists making works of art with it, but I'm having a hard time drawing straight lines when at the same time my budget Wacom Bamboo tablet produces nice crisp lines on my Mac.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

It works fine on mine. I've had the Note 10.1 for about 2 months. I use PS Touch and LayerPaint and have used Sketchbook Pro. I was using the S Pen that came with the tablet but now use the Samsung/wacom S Pen, but have not encountered the problem you described with either pen or any of the mentioned apps. I would suggest using a straight edge and see if the same problem occurs. Could be you have a defective unit. Having worked in retail electronics I know it happens a lot more than people think across all brands. I would exchange it just in case. If you have access to use the demo unit in the store(Best Buy should have a working demo), I would try to recreate the problem on their unit.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Thanks's for the suggestion about trying with a straight edge. I'll try that later today to see if the same problems show up (they should).
Unfortunately I don't have any store nearby which has the Note in stock, so it's difficult to do an un-biased comparison.

But it's good to know that it should perform better than what I've experienced. I'll probably end up following your advice on exchanging it to be on the safe side.

If anyone else has an opinion on the accuracy of the S-Pen, good or bad, please let me know.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Originally Posted by Mistale

Thanks's for the suggestion about trying with a straight edge. I'll try that later today to see if the same problems show up (they should).
Unfortunately I don't have any store nearby which has the Note in stock, so it's difficult to do an un-biased comparison.

But it's good to know that it should perform better than what I've experienced. I'll probably end up following your advice on exchanging it to be on the safe side.

If anyone else has an opinion on the accuracy of the S-Pen, good or bad, please let me know.

Oh no, that's not right. I use it all the time, in various apps, with the stylus at a writing angle, or just slightly angled, and it's never done that. The only thing that can happen is if you have the hand recognition turned off with the little icon in the upper right that looks like a crayon being black instead of light blue, it can suddenly try to link where your finger or hand may be near the screen as well as the S pen. If that icon is blue, it should only react to the S pen, and it should be so smooth and so precise you should be able to forget you're not using a real gel pen, or fine brush, whatever tool you've chosen. If you want to find out if it's the S pen, you can try any capacitive stylus just to narrow it down as to whether it's the pen or the screen. I'm so sorry you're having this issue, the 10.1 makes me wish I had some artistic talent to take advantage of all the possibilities. I wish you well with this, it really is perfect for you.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Thank you all for your answers!

I've tried using a straight-edge, but the results are the same. Most lines come out a bit wobbly, but the biggest problem is an area to the left, and a bit down, from the screen centre-point. In that area lines will "spike", and its more pronounced the slower I draw them (with straight-edge). It seems like certain spots in that area will cause the pen position to jump to the right, then back again.

When drawing multiple lines with small spacing, the spikes will be right above each-other no matter where the lines begin or end.
I've attached an image so that you can see the effect. Note that it's almost only happening on diagonal lines drawn from top-left towards bottom right.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

I agree with Raymond, I think you should get your Note replaced. I use my Note with the S pen hours each day, I've never seen anything like that except for when I tried that auto geometric shape tool on the S Note. I'm going to throw out an idea, it's a long shot, but I've been amazed to learn that people don't totally power off their devices daily. I only mention it because I have an issue with my Note phone where a magnet in my case used to rest right above the screen on the side. I didn't know anything was wrong except I would occasionally have this dead area and like you, didn't know if it was my S pen, or the screen. When it really irritated me, I got it ready to take to AT&T and drew lines all over a note so I could show them and found the dead area was right in the place of the magnet catch of my case. I got rid of the magnet, but every now and then that dead zone comes back like it weakened that area permanently. If I save the note, power off and restart, the screen can be fine for a week or so. Probably some techie type can explain it, I just know it works for the Note phone, might help with the 10.1. Even if it helps, I still recommend you get it replaced. For your needs, better to have the device be perfect.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Hi, I was experiencing the same problem you are dealing with. My s pen skipped over a certain part of my screen every time I tried to write. I read some of the comments above and thankfully then have solved my issue. The case I was using has a magnet on it which caused it to skip on the spot where the magnet was close to. If the magnet is bad for the device, like most people will tell you, I will definitely get rid of it asap. Thanks for the advice J High Note, and I hope you can fix your issue as well.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Originally Posted by Discardedfoot

Hi, I was experiencing the same problem you are dealing with. My s pen skipped over a certain part of my screen every time I tried to write. I read some of the comments above and thankfully then have solved my issue. The case I was using has a magnet on it which caused it to skip on the spot where the magnet was close to. If the magnet is bad for the device, like most people will tell you, I will definitely get rid of it asap. Thanks for the advice J High Note, and I hope you can fix your issue as well.

I don't think a magnet is an officially recognized problem, but I'm sure it caused my perfectly square dead zone on my screen. Luckily, I can restart the Note and it's fine for a while, and repeated trial and error let me know how to get it to reset itself. I did not get the insurance, but if you did, and the screen problems are severe, consider getting it replaced. And stay away from cases with magnets! I replaced the magnet with velcro and it works fine. Glad to have helped.

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Hi, I also had the same problem with my galaxy note 10.1 . The S pen was skipping the part or going inaccurate about 3mm while using s note at the area where the magnet was present in the case so I tried removing the case and used the s pen and "wallah" it was fixed there was no problem with s pen accuracy .

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Just thought I'd tell you all that I sent my Note in for repair, accompanied by a description and the image I posted in the thread earlier.
Got it back two days ago with saying that the people at Samsung couldn't replicate my problem... =(

It still has the same problem, easily replicatable every time. Every time I draw a diagonal or vertical line near the middle of the screen I get the same "spikes" as before. Slower drawing = much larger spikes. Less pressure on the pen = larger spikes.

I've adjusted the potentiometer in the pen to see if the problem would go away or at least be less pronounced with more sensitive setting, but its doesn't matter. Still, the adjustment of the sensitivity meant that the pressure needed to start drawing on the screen is now more in line with what I use with pen & paper.

I've never used any magnets near the tablet. I'll probably try to see if there's any difference using the tablet at a different location due to possible electrical interference, but I find it unlikely interference would cause the problem to appear in the same sport every time.

If I don't get this sorted I'm gonna send it in once more with a more detailed step-by-step instruction on how to replicate the problem.
I hope that Samsung will exchange it, otherwise I'll have to see if its possible to return it to the reseller.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Just to reference, I have an 8013 and I can not get these things to occur whatsoever. I also have the magnets of the book case on it. Anyone with this issue should treat it as a defect for return /exchange.

Re: Accuracy of S-Pen

Originally Posted by Discardedfoot

Hi, I was experiencing the same problem you are dealing with. My s pen skipped over a certain part of my screen every time I tried to write. I read some of the comments above and thankfully then have solved my issue. The case I was using has a magnet on it which caused it to skip on the spot where the magnet was close to. If the magnet is bad for the device, like most people will tell you, I will definitely get rid of it asap. Thanks for the advice J High Note, and I hope you can fix your issue as well.

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Hi there,
Just recieved my new 10.1 with a similar problem, in the Snote app, a non responsive area measuring around 3 c"m in width, and all across the width of the screen, responds to my finger, but not to the pen. I have tried to use my pen from my note 2 phone, with the same result. No contact with magnets, and the issue started immediately after unpacking. I have no clue as to what to do apart from sending it back.

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Just got here from a Google search, and I don't own a Notepad, just a Galaxy Note (I wanted something truly pocket size).

BUT, I did learn a few things about the S-pen in the last couple of weeks since I got this.

The S-pen is really a standard Wacom stylus -- the same tech and specs that are common with Wacom enabled digitizers on tablet PCs (but not Intuos, or Graphire models). For instance, I have an old Toshiba M200, and the pen for that works great on the Note. In fact, it even gives you a bonus as an eraser that works in many apps (such as AutoDesk Sketchbook). It's often cheaper to buy a replacement stylus for an old tablet PC than to stick with the S-pen. Though, yeah... you have to adopt to carrying something else in your pocket.

But the other thing, and this concerns your accuracy and sensitivity problems, is that these pens contain two tiny little potentiometers right under the click button. By adjusting these slightly, you can often clear up accuracy problems. Plus, if your pen has been in the pocket for long enough, you can also 'clean out the lint' when you pop the switch to access the pot.

I found that I actually had to turn the tip-side pot clockwise to alleviate my S-pen sensitivity problem, but others say it goes the other way. It's a very tiny little adjuster -- think head of a pin -- so you'll need a very fine jeweller's screwdriver to do this. The second (farthest from tip) is for tip offset correction.

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I tried with a new Pen that Samsung sent, and exactly the same problem.

However, I have had the Tablet with Samsung the past week, and according to them they can't reproduce any problem. It's simply, take a ruler, draw a line from one corner to the next, and they can't miss it. I gave them an example, saved S-Note and also a list of instructions both in email, in the package and verbally over the phone.

Has anybody had any luck with Samsung? The retailer will just send back to Samsung who are going to deny a fault, but when you pay a premium for this function, you expect it to work perfectly, they advertise it as a precise tool.

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Dear Mohd. Your post gave me the fix I had been searching for! THANK YOU!!!! From the bottom of my S-Pen! You wouldn't believe what I've been through to be able to draw again. I've spent hours on the phone with Verizon, with Samsung, ordered pen after pen and none of them worked, driven miles to Best Buy and the Verizon dealer to have it looked at an NO ONE had the answer as to why my pen was skipping. So, last week, my husband bought me a new Tablet A just for drawing. I am having a tough time getting the learning curve and missed drawing on my galaxy note 3 phone but it was better than nothing. I just happened to find this site and your post about the s pen being near a magnet. My s pen started skipping right around the time I bought a new case. It's one of those magnetized wallet cases for your phone and credit cards. Well, just a few minutes ago, I took it from the magnetized case and WAHLAH!! Problem solved. So, now I will be returning my new tablet and saving us $300! I can go back to drawing on my sweet little phone again! I see you posted this almost 4 years ago. Just wanted to say thanks for your genius post. You solved a problem that not even the techies could figure out! God bless you dear!